ART and design students at Abingdon & Witney College rose to the challenge when asked to design the top trophy for the 2013 West Oxfordshire Business Awards.

Twenty-eight students at the college’s Witney campus worked on their designs in teams of four before making a model to present to a judging panel earlier this month.

The panel included artist Steve Fletcher who will transform the winning design into the finished trophy to be presented to the West Oxfordshire Business 2013.

Awards organiser Jo Sensecall, of WOBA said: “The students, who have only recently joined the college, weren’t expecting to be faced with a live business pitch in the first few weeks of their course but I’m pleased to say they most definitely rose to the challenge.

“The standard exceeded expectations and it’s fantastic that we clearly have a number of talented and creative young people in West Oxfordshire.”

The winning design, created by Jo Read, 16, Fenton Saward, 17, Alex Sedrowska, 19, and Darren Smith, 17, was inspired by bringing businesses of all sizes together, and linking them with the awards.

Fiona Morey, assistant principal of the college, said: “Making sure our students are ready for the workplace is a vital part of what we do here.

“It’s one of the reasons we’re embedding our unique Professional Futures programme, with its focus on work placements and employability skills, into the college work for more and more of our students.

“We’re delighted to have been approached by the awards team to work on this exciting project; it’s great for students to have the opportunity to work in partnership with local businesses and directly with employers.”

The winning students, known as Team Four, have been invited to an event next January when the shortlisted finalists will be announced and the trophy unveiled.

There are 11 award categories and entries are welcome from all businesses, irrespective of size or the sector they operate in, as long as the company is based in West Oxfordshire.

The award categories are:

Agrivert Green Business Award

Blenheim Palace Rural Business Award

Caswell House Business Person of the Year Award

CT-UK New Business Award

Heythrop Park Leisure, Tourism and Hospitality Award

JSP Skills Training Award

Owen Mumford Innovation Award

Polythene UK Charity and Community Award

STL Communications Large Business Award

Strategic Mentors Small Business Award

Urban Element Social Media Award

The category winners will be considered for the overall Coutts 2013 West Oxfordshire Business of the Year Award

Entry forms with detailed information about the awards are available online at woba.co.uk
Entries close on November 30.

The West Oxfordshire Business Awards Gala Dinner takes place at Heythrop Park, on March 8 next year and will raise money for Adventure Plus, winner of the 2012 Charity and Community Award.

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